Shapes

 

The students have completed the unit on shapes. They have used a variety of shapes in their building and talked about rectangles, squares, triangles. They completed a shape picture after listening to the story Mouse Shapes and on Friday I put out geoboards and elastics and the students used the materials to make a variety of shapes. I went around the classroom and asked them to identify the shapes they had made and asked them how they knew it was that shape. Many of the students were able to explain, it is a triangle because it has 3 edges and 3 corners.

 

The students received a short lesson on how to use the elastics in a safe manner and how they could use them to make a variety of shapes. I am very pleased to announce there was not one accident with the elastics.

 

I find it very interesting because the morning students were lining up to use the geoboards. In fact I had to go and borrow some more from another teacher because they did not want to wait for the experience. The afternoon class, not one student showed an interest in the centre all afternoon.

 

"I made lots of rectangles. I know because they have 4 edges and two are short and two are long. Some of skinny rectangles and some are fatter".

"I made rectangles and then I put a triangle in the middle. There are more rectangles than triangles because 4 is a bigger number than one".

 

"I made squares and rectangles. When you put them together you can tell the difference because a square all the edges are the same size".

 "I just made a bunch of long rectangles. They are easy to make".

"I made rectangles and one triangle".

 "I tried to make a triangle but I could only do it with 4 edges because I could not get the corner on the top so then it looks like a edge. Oh no now it is not a triangle now I don't know what it is".

"I made two rectangles and put them like this and now it is an X with rectangles".



Building

Boys and girls share a strong desire for designing and creating various structures using a variety of blocks. It reinforced the learning of shapes and why some shapes are used in building and some are not used. This is an amazing way to observe evidence of the students learning by listening to their communication skills amongst each other and examimation of their problem solving strategies when difficulties with the structure arise. Add some dinosaurs to the construction (block) area and suddenly the imagination wheels are going at a rapid speed. They are building dungeons and draw bridges, and gates in order to keep the dinosaurs save so they are not "extinct" any longer.

 

 

 

Great explanation of drawbridge and why it is used and how it helps the dinosaur. This child even explained in detail what exists under the drawbridge (crocodiles and sharks) and there is a special code for those who are not the enemy so they can cross safely.

 

 

During the planning and creating of this structure the boys were building the tall part of the structure and suddenly the stopped and stated, "I think we should stop building it so tall because it is not as stable as it should be. Instead we should start making it longer and wider rather than taller". The other boy explained, "yes and we will add these smaller blocks and they will be stabilizers to make it more stable". This was just one example of fabulous learning and communication about stability in a structure. 

 



Pet Shop

There is an update for the pet shop. The students are loving the pet shop and the novelty is not slowing down in the least. The customers are buying pets and the cashier is selling pets and the students requested some new things last week so they could be doctors and nurses in the pet shop, when the pets become sick. Well today, one the JK boys came to me and told me they needed a sign for the pet shop. The sign had to be an open and closed sign and the sign needed to flip flop. I challenged the students to explain why they needed a closed sign and they explained, "when the pets are sick nobody can buy them until the doctors and nurses make them better". I asked why and one of the girls explained, "if the pets leave the shop without medicine and they are sick then they could die and the owner would be very sad".

The group of four decided one side of the sign could be white for open and the other side red for closed. They all wanted to print the sign, but decided two SK girls were better printers then anyone else. I felt I had to share the learning with all the parents. Here are pictures of the signs.

 

 

The two signs were stapled together and when the students decide it should be open the open sign is up and when closed then I change the sign. I hope all the parents are as impressed with the wonderful learning as I am. The students are wonderful at creating their own learning experiences.



A Big Thank You!

 

Thank you to all the parents so far for your very generous food donations to Community Care. The orange and green barrel are filled to the top. Our next challenge is to continue to fill up the yellow, red, purple and blue barrels, so no family in Niagara will go hungry this Christmas.

 

Also the donations of hat, mittens and coats is well under way. The tree is nicely decorated and some of the boxes under the tree are becoming full as well.

 

Thank you for all your wonderful donations! Our families are a true blessing to the community!!

For Parents

At the right hand side of the blog I have included a heading named For Parents. I have decided to include things of interest for the parents. The first one is an explanation of the Eight Principles of Counting. This will assist parents to understand what the expectation for Kindergarten in the area of counting. If you do not have a printer, let me know and I will place a hard copy in your child's mailbag sometime next week. 

Parents of JK children, please remember the program is a two year program, which means your child has two years to meet the Kindergarten expectations. 

By the way, I am up to 10 followers now. This is exciting for me! I love doing the blog and hope parents are enjoying seeing and learning about what is happening in the Kindergarten classroom. 

Sticks

 

It has been a very windy November this year and with the wind there have been many sticks on the playground. The students have been fascinated with the sticks. When playing outside, they have gathered a variety of sticks, pine needles, and leaves to build pretend fires. Then they run and search for longer sticks so they can roast marshmallows and hot dogs. They also explained the fire keeps them warm when it is cold outside.

The students have also brought in a variety of the sticks into the classroom. When at the library the other day I came across a book Not a stick. I have the book to be used next week so the students can create their own page of Not a stick. Some of the students will be creative and create their own ideas for what the stick could be used for and others may use one of the ideas from the book. My goal is to use the book to offer the students an opportunity to create our own class book. They will also be able to decorate their own stick with a variety of materials I have purchased at the Dollar Store. The stick will be placed in a dixie cup that has some play dough in the bottom and then the stick will sit in the play dough. 

Mathematics

Continuation with various 2D shapes will continue until the end of November and then the students will move on to 3D figures. The students have had opportunities to explore and sort the shapes and to identify and describe the shapes of circle, square, rectangle and triangle. The students will have additional practice comparing traditional and on-traditional shapes, especially with triangles. At the creation centre the students will be offered with a variety of coloured strips of paper and asked to use the strips of paper to make some of the shapes they know. They will also have opportunities to compose pictures, and build designs, shapes, and patterns. 

Language

 

The jolly phonic sound for this week will be the Dd sound. Parents can download the sheet in order to do the action with your child. The class only does a little five minute lesson on jolly phonics daily. Some of the three or four letter words we will be working on are:

dab, dad, did, den, dig, dip, dot, dry, dug, dill, ding, dong, dish.

 

 

The students will be introduced to the ot family. Some of the words they will be able to make are: cot, dot, got, hot, lot, pot, rot, tot. Practicing chunking the ot together and then blending the first consonant with the ot family, prepares the students for reading.

 

In the area of reading comprehension we will continue with the strategy of Retell. I find the use of fairy tales is the easiest for the students. The events are short and very concise. 

Elf on a Shelf    SH! SH! SH! SH!

Last year I bought the book and elf called Elf on a shelf. I wrapped the book and elf in brown paper and addressed to the Kindergarten Class c/o Mrs. K. Foote, Meadowvale School and the address. The return address was: Santa Claus, the North Pole. I place it in the freezer so it would be very cold when delivered and asked the secretary Mrs. Haddock at the time to deliver it to our classroom around 9:30 in the morning. I made a huge deal about the deliver and everything. The children named the elf Stella. Now Stella was a little trickster at times. Once she moved the poem from the easel, the children's name tags went missing, and she moved at night time, so each morning we had to search for her. Sometimes she left a note for the children and they wrote to her.

 

One day next week the children and I are going to write a letter to Santa to ask him if he would be so kind as to send the Elf back to our classroom. The children will be encouraged to write to Santa and to make a picture. All the letters will be mailed to Santa and hopefully we will have an elf delivered to us the following week. This will be a very exciting time for the children. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of Kindergarten children is magical! Once we write the letter to Santa, I am positive your child will be very eager and excited to tell you everything they did at school.

Dramatic Play Centre Change

 

Next week will be the last week for the Pet Shop. It has produced plenty of learning opportunities for the students and they have really learned to socialize and take turns in this centre. So next Friday the students will return home with their stuffed animals.

 

The afternoon class has decided they want it to be a Christmas store. Many of the items I have but not all. Both the morning and afternoon class brainstormed and this is the list they came up with. If the item is written in red I have it and black means we need a donation.

 

Christmas tree

ornaments

stockings

santa hats

 

little reindeer

little elves

elf ears

elf hats

wrapping paper

little boxes

Thank goodness for dollar stores. They are ever teachers dream.

 

Some of the things I told the students they could create by drawing and cutting and putting them on the windows to decorate the store.

 

I plan on making brown playdough and they can cut out gingerbread men and other cookies. If anyone has some little gingerbread cookie cutters that we can borrow that would be wonderful! I am so excited to see what happens in the Christmas store and what they create by using their imaginations!

Members of My Blog

 

Well I noticed that I am up to nine members who follow my blog. This is the beginning of the second year of my blog. My goal is to be up to about 15 or 20 members. I wonder who will help me meet my goal. Who will be the next person to follow my blog!

 

 

 

Message to Orange Team

 

Okay orange team, I brought in one bag of food and our bin is one of the lowest of all the other colour pillars. The green bin is up to the very top and purple is second in the running. Come on orange team please don't let me down. I think they are moving on to the next donations next week, not sure!

 

By the way orange team I heard that the our bin was voted on as the best decorated bin so lets take that wonderful news and try to fill the bin up tomorrow or at least by Monday. I plan on announcing it to all the other grades tomorrow!

Shape Learning

 

The students have been learning about shapes as part of the Kindergarten Curriculum. The shapes they are required to know are: circle, square, rectangle, and triangle. They have successfully found circles, squares, triangles, and later on rectangles in the classroom.

 

As part of their learning I placed a variety of 2D pattern blocks and a large piece of black paper. I asked the students to create whatever they wanted and to explain to me what they had created. For many of the SK students I asked them to explain what they used more of and to explain how they knew.

 

One of the little boys told me that "he used 10 triangles and he knew 10 triangles was more than 5 squares because when he counted he said 5 first so it was a little number". I asked him how he knew this and he explained, "now Mrs. Foote listen carefully to me, are you listening, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. So when I counted I said 5 first and then later on I said 10, see the numbers get bigger when you count more numbers". Wonderful mathematical explanation from a 5 year old.

 

Here are some of the students creations. Sorry I can't include them all!

a flower with no leaves

 a big highway maze

 houses, grass and a windmill

 a flower shop and a windmill

 a flower

 Me playing in the snow and the sun is shining.

 Different houses, grass and the sun.

 It's just a design.

 A rocketship

 Me playing in the grass.

 

It's a snowflake.



Colder Weather

Blue seemed to be a good colour to represent the cooler weather now that we are in the middle of November.

 

It seems the colder and windy weather is upon us and soon it will become colder yet! Just a few reminders to parents about your child's outdoor winter weather. These are only suggestions in order to make it easier and warmer for your child. Boots without liners are easier for the children to put on and remove. Please work with your child to make sure he/she is able to put on their boots and remove their boots independently. I prefer neck warmers for the children instead of a scarf because neck warmers easily cover the neck, the children can independently put it on and it is safer on the slide, etc. Also, mittens are warmer than gloves and easier for the children to put on. The children want to do as much as possible independently, so if parents supply things that are easier for the children to maneuver then the children feel very successful and proud of their accomplishments. Also, I ask that parents please label your child's mittens, hats, neck warmer, snow pants and boots. This makes it easier for me to keep track of which items belong to whom. 

Food Bins

 

 

The food bins are quickly filling up with wonderful non perishable food donations. As we examined the bins in the afternoon we noticed the green bin is the fullest one so far. So please if you have not donated to the bins yet be sure to do so in order to fill them up to the brim. I am filling up my bag tonight because I am part of the orange bin and I want it to be filled at least twice.

On a serious note, I want to thank all the Kindergarten families who have been extremely generous with your donations. Thank you very much for thinking about others who struggle ensuring to have enough food on the table every day of the year. Your generosity has been noticed and will be greatly received by those less fortunate. 

I am truly blessed to be teaching in this wonderful 

and generous community! 

Decorating Bins

 

Last week the afternoon Kindergarten students and all the other students from the other grades met in the gym and were placed into their character groups. The students were given  markers, paper, glue and other materials and asked to decorate their food bin in the most attractive manner possible. The other teachers and myself were amazed with the finished product of each food bin. So when you send food in for Community Care be sure your child places it in the correct bin. Each bin was decorated in the colour of the Tshirt for each particular character trait. Below you can examine the wonderful completed products of each bin.

 Citizenship

 Caring

 Intrigity

 Respect

 Fairness

Responsibility

 

At another time the students will have an opportunity to vote on the best designed food bin. Personally I think they are all winners!



Circles

 

Last week when the students were exploring and investigating various sized circles and finding circle shapes they were extremely engaged for three days and continued to fill the table with more and more circle items.

 

As a large group we discussed all the things in the world circles could represent and where they could be found. Here are some of their explanations: sun, full moon, wheels on a car, steering wheel of a car, the body of a caterpillar, spots on a cat, spots on any animal, bubbles in the water, and the list went on and on. So at the creation station I placed white paper and lots of big and small circle stickers and wrote on a card: What can you make with circle stickers? The students were extremely creative and some repeated the creations of others.